Never Change

Chapter 22

Riptide found small holes in her defenses, holes that he could exploit and widen with the constant changing of weapons in his left hand to attack.

He faked his leg faltering, and, as predicted, Cinder took the bait, immediately exposing a massive hole in her defense. He prodded at it lightly, knowing it was a fake, and sure enough, she instantly tried to counter, only for him not to be there. He brought down Riptide with the force of a train onto her shoulder, causing her to cry out in pain. He based her head with the pommel, once, twice, before she regained her senses and danced away.

Percy locked blades with her, the two of them pitting their strength against each other.

"Having performance issues?" Percy taunted, a smug smirk on his face that infuriated her.

"Shut up!" she snarled in anger, before Percy twisted his wrist skillfully, and she lost one of her swords.

Cinder only crafted another one instantly, but just as they were about to reengage, a massive dragon-like Grimm, a Wyvern, crashed into the ground just before them, causing the ground to shake and launching them high up into the air.

Percy immediately tackled Cinder, overpowering her with his demigod strength in a vice-like grip as he held her body below him, preparing to absorb the impact and smash her into a pulp.

He was not prepared when she used the winds on him, a powerful gale of wind throwing him off her and towards the ground, all as she hovered in the air. As he was falling, she sent beams of fire towards him, forcing him to focus on blocking with his shield wards.

Percy grit his teeth, trying to summon the winds to carry him to safety. They worked, at least partially, cushioning his fall somewhat as he rolled to his feet.

She fired a beam of burning death, with arcs of fire surrounding it. He blocked the beam with a brilliant shield ward. The beam was one of the strongest yet, as the pure power of the beam caused him to slide his feet backwards in the dirt, sparks flying off the magnificent ward as he was pushed backwards. Still, he was wasting too much aura keeping it up, and he had to change tactics.

Percy clenched his fists, ethereal sea green eyes beginning to glow bright with the true power of the stormbringer. He reached deep inside himself, summoning his true power. Gales of wind began rushing at an unnatural pace beside him, and dark, stormy clouds began gathering above.

Bolts of lightning fell from the heavens, striking the ground with tremendous force as his silhouette lit up the very sky. A small hurricane formed above them, turning the winds into an overwhelming gale as the downpour of rain invigorated him, and thunder blared in the distance.

The rush of power, the ability to just cut himself loose; it was addicting, exhilarating. It felt surreal, intoxicating even, to finally be able to unleash himself.

It felt good to be back.

He felt a small force of will trying to take control of the skies from him, but he swatted it away like an errant fly undeserving of his attention. He stalked towards her, his face set in a cold mask, Riptide dragging behind him across the ground, sparks erupting from the contact. He would show no mercy to her; she was just another monster to be put down, one of many in his life.

"It's- not possible-" Cinder backpedaled, a shocked expression on her face. She had a strange, foreign expression on her features, her body shaking like a leaf.

Then, it hit him.

She was scared.

Of him, because he presented an unsurmountable obstacle that she hadn't seen coming, something unexpected but powerful. Dangerous.